Last week Scott Walker was reelected governor of Wisconsin. He won easily in spite of the lame stream media predictions that it was a dead heat and might end in a recount.
Walker is a Republican, but this blog is not about Republican vs. Democrat. It is about elected officials doing a job in the best interests of the people they represent, and the negative impact of partisan politics. It is about helping the working middle class and not just giving this issue lip service with no action. It is about giving our children the best education possible. It is about not always voting with one political party. It is about politicians working for the people and not just campaign donors. It is about controlling government spending. It is about improving the economy and creating private sector jobs.
Governor Walker was elected the first time four years ago. He made some very ambitious campaign promises. The state was in terrible shape. The state’s economy was in the tank. There was widespread unemployment. There was a large government deficit, and taxes had been increasing. Schools were in trouble and looking at cutting teachers and programs.
Governor Walker immediately went to work and and in doing so created a lot of controversy. There were heated demonstrations at the state capital. With today’s partisan politics, it is impossible to get anything done and keep everyone happy. Democratic state senators literally left the state of Wisconsin to block legislative action. State legislators that supported Governor Walker’s reforms received death threats requiring them to have armed guards and decoy vehicles.
The Wisconsin Education Association Council or WEAC is the public sector union for teachers. With a lot of help from national unions, WEAC led a movement to recall Governor Walker. The lame stream media predicted Walker would be handed his walking papers, but he won the recall by a larger margin than when he’d been elected.
In spite of these obstacles, Walker did get most of his reforms in place. If anyone had told me he could achieve what he has achieved in the last four years, I would have said they were crazy. The state budget is balanced and there is a even surplus. The economy is up and unemployment is down. Taxes are down, and schools are in better shape than they have been for years. Walker’s reforms were pretty simple. They did not involve expensive government programs. He just got government out of the way of private enterprise, local government, and local school districts.
I mentioned Walker’s campaign promises were ambitious, but in four years, he achieved them all except one. He promised 250,000 new jobs. He was only able to show a little over 100,000. In most areas of the state, anyone who wants to work can now find a good paying job. In our area, we have a huge shortage of skilled and unskilled labor. Did Walker helped to create more jobs than we have workers? Welfare is just too comfortable for many people, and they would rather not have to bother going to work.
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the unions did everything possible to defeat walker this year. Walker was outspent, and ads got pretty negative towards the end when it looked like he might win. Ads attempting to show him as sexist, and even implying he was corrupt were not effective. People voted for a qualified individual that had implemented reforms to help the middle working class.
I was happy to see Governor Walker was reelcted with a comfortable margin last week. I hope it will show the rest of the country that a politician can and should represent the working middle class and achieve good things for the state and country. Walker’s reforms in Wisconsin are a sharp contrast to the political jokes and failed policies in Washington DC.
Walker’s reforms were not expensive and actually worked. I am sick and tired of the Progressive idea that the government has to be spending money or they are not doing anything. We need to take a lesson from Walker and President Calvin Coolidge (also known as Silent Cal) and get government out of the way.
There will be a change in the control of Congress. I hope it is used productively instead of just continuing the partisan gridlock. I can see why Governor Walker is in the top ten as a Republican Presidential candidate in two years. Personally, I would hate to lose him as Governor, but I hope one political party can put forward a candidate like him. I am sick of the usual candidates representing the political elite and buying votes with welfare. We need elected representatives working for middle class.
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